This is my fourth day in Beijing and wow, it has been a journey. Praise God that He has given me such an invaluable opportunity to learn Mandarin in China. I am guessing that most of you are wondering what I have been up to since I landed in Beijing. Well, this is just a short recap of my past few days.

Day 1:

Flight MH370 landed at Terminal 2 of the Beijing Capital Airport at 6.30am. I waited until 8.30am for the Welcome Committee but still no sign of them. I finally realised I had forgotten that I was supposed to be at Terminal 3 Airport. So I quickly took the Inter-Terminal Bus and made my way to Terminal 3. In short, I did not miss anything since I had to wait until 11am for the bus to take us to Beijing Normal University. We were then brought to our respective accommodations and due to a mix-up or rather error on my part, I was left without a room. Surprisingly I was rather calm about the whole matter because I knew that God had His plans and everything would turn out fine. I thank God that a Chinese girl, Fu Xin Yuan, from the Welcome Committee was by my side every step of the way. The poor girl even had to skip her class to accompany me to the International Students' Office to help me sort out the accommodation problem. She was a real blessing as my first day in Beijing ran smoothly due to her help. Even after accompanying me the whole day she was kind enough to bring me out and treat me to some nice Chinese noodles and dumplings. I offered to pay but surprisingly she declined and said if I did not accept her treat, I would not be regarding her as a friend. Wow, that is Chinese etiquette at its very best! I slept like a log that very first day and said a prayer of thanks to Our Father Almighty.

Day 2:

Today was a rather uneventful day in comparison to the events of Day 1. I had some errands to run at the Bank of China and that took up quite a bit of time. However, before that ,I needed to fill my tummy and somehow made my way to the same place that Xin Yuan brought me to for dinner. It is only known to locals and there is hardly a foreigner in sight. It was amazing I did not lose my way considering how bad my spatial skills are. I had a big bowl of spicy noodles with beef for only RMB7.00 = RM3.50. Economical yet absolutely tasty.

Day 3:

I met five other Malaysian students today and was actually contacted by one of them. She somehow managed to obtain my number from one other Malaysian guy who in turn obtained my number from a Chinese girl that I met on Day 1. Yes, a rather convoluted process. Either way I was absolutely thrilled to be meeting other fellow Malaysians. They only speak Mandarin and as such I was delighted to be able to practise my Mandarin with them. I certainly feel as if my Mandarin has improved, albeit only slightly. However, I am certain that with God's grace I will be able to speak fluently by the time I come back home. One of the Malaysians, Doreen, is just starting her first year undergraduate studies and she stays in the same accommodation as me. It is nice to know that we are both new on campus. She has been teaching me Mandarin while I have been teaching her English and thus begins the symbiotic process of learning languages. Also, she might just become my roommate by the end of this week. We will see what God has planned for me and her.

Ah yes! I googled for a church in Beijing and stumbled across the BICF website. BICF is short for Beijing International Christian Fellowship. I decided to take a bus ride to its location as I wanted to be doubly sure that I arrived at church early on Sunday. Once again I felt so blessed with the people I have been surrounded with. I was unsure which bus to take and asked this couple who was standing oustide the university. They told me that they would walk with me to the bus stop and they stayed with me until I got onto the bus. My only regret is that I do not know their names. Hopefully I will come across them in campus in the next few months. The church is located in a very nice area and I was introduced to Pastor Mark and also the other office staff. I felt very welcome and hopefully this is a sign for greater things to come. I was certainly encouraged after talking to a Chinese girl, Rachel, who works in the church office. She came to Christ about four years ago and it started when she went to a house church during her university days. Although the Chinese government has not clamped down on internationals going to church but certainly the situation is different for their own Chinese nationals; Chinese people still have to resort to attending small groups and house churches to worship. I pray that the government will slowly abandon their restrictive policies and allow for freedom to worship openly. I will update all of you as to how church is like and the small groups I will be attending later on.

After returning from my short trip to church, two Malaysian students - Wei Jia & Elvis came to visit me. They are really friendly and I felt at ease when talking to them even in my broken Mandarin. Together with Doreen, we went grocery shopping and they asked me what exactly I needed. I bought some clothes hangers, clothes detergent, biscuits, water bottle and a laundry bag. Elvis was sweet enough to carry my groceries for me. Coincidentally he is from Perak, Teluk Intan. Maybe it goes to show the high standards of Perakian men! We went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant close to my accommodation. It was nice to share a meal with my new found friends, who were kind enough to share with me their thoughts and views about life in China and in particular the university itself. I am attending their house party tomorrow and who knows what else is in store. If I am not mistaken, there are only nine Malaysian students including myself who are studying at this university. Therefore, there is definitely a tight-knit community among us Malaysians. I pray that I will have a fruitful experience here in Beijing and to grow closer to Our Abba Father. I certainly feel that God has arranged for my time in Beijing to be one of learning both linguistically and also spiritually.